Container



P 7, 1966 R. 1.. COLLINS 1 3,275,216

CONTAINER 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 1, 1964 INVENTOR. RAYMOND L. COLL/NS BY W FIG-l A 7 TOPNEY p 7, 1966 R. L. COLLINS 3,275,216

CONTAINER Filed June 1, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG-4 INVENTOR. RAYMOND L. COLL INS A T TORNE Y P 27, 1966 R. L. COLLINS 3,275,216

CONTAINER Filed June 1, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 I I I 7 l INVENTOR. RAYMOND L. COLL/NS ATTORNEY Sept. 27, 1966 R. COLLINS 3,275,215

CONTAINER Filed June 1, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. RA VMOND L COL L lNS A TTORNE 1 p 27, 1966 R. 1.. COLLINS 3,2 75,216

CONTAINER Filed June 1, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. RAYMOND L. COLL/NS A TTORNEY United States Patent 3,275,216 CONTAINER Raymond L. Collins, Brevard, N.C., assignor to Olin Mathieson Chemical Corporation, a corporation of Virginia Filed June 1, 1964, Ser. No. 371,343 6 Claims. (Cl. 229-37) This invention relates to containers and particularly to containers, including flat blanks for the assembly thereof, which are readily adapted for the packaging of each of a variety of diiferently shaped sheets or articles.

Packaging materials, such as paper, cellophane, polyethylene or other films, have been marketed in the form of flat rectangular and parallelogram-shaped sheets of various sizes. It has been necessary in the past, therefore, to provide a variety of sizes and shapes of cartons of conventional construction for the handling and shipment of such packaging sheets. When rectangular cartons were used for packing angularly cut sheets, waste space was unavoidable at opposite ends of the package and it was generally necessary to use fillers for such void spaces to prevent damage to the contents during shipment and handling.

The present invention has provided versatile blanks which are readily adapted for assembly to containers having either a rectangular cross-section or a parallelogramshaped cross-section, as desired. The invention thus enables a substantial reduction in the number of carton types required, as well as other advantages. The carton conforms in shape to the sheets stored therein, thus eliminating waste space and providing quick identification of the contents.

The feature which makes such versatility attainable is that each of the four side walls is provided with an attached flap having one edge perpendicular to the line of attachment and another edge cut or formed at an acute angle to the line of attachment. When the carton is assembled so that the perpendicular edges contact or are parallel to the adjacent side walls, the cross-section is rectangular, and the carton is adapted for the packaging of rectangular sheets. Or, the assembly may be effected so that the angular edges contact or are parallel to the adjacent side walls, and the cross-section is then parallelogram-shaped for the packaging of angularly-cut sheets.

In the drawing forming par-t of this specification and showing illustrative embodiments of the invention:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a blank, cut and scored to provide side walls and flaps attached thereto, which blank is adapted to be assembled to a carton having a crosssection which may be either rectangular or parallelogramshaped.

FIGURE 2 is a plan view after partial assembly of the above blank.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the carton after assembly of the above blank so as to have a rectangular cross-section.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the carton after assembly of the blank of FIG. 2 so as to have a parallelogram-shaped cross-section.

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of the carton shown in FIG. 3.

FIGURE 6 is a plan view of the carton of FIG. 4.

FIGURE 7 illustrates another embodiment of the invention and is a plan view of a blank cut and scored to provide side walls and flaps attached thereto, adapted for assembly to form an uncovered carton.

FIGURE 8 is a plan view after partial assembly of the blank of FIG. 7.

FIGURE 9 is a perspective view of the carton after assembly of the blank of FIG. 8 so as to have a rec-tangular cross-section.

3,2752% Patented Sept. 27, 1966 ICC FIGURE 10 is a perspective view of the carton after assembly of the blank of FIG. 8 so as to have a parallelogram-shaped cross-section.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, shown in FIGURES 1 to 6 inclusive, a blank 1 of suitable sheet material, preferably corrugated fiber board, is provided having side wall panels 2, 3, 4 and 5, the latter carrying attachment flange 6. These elements are hingedly secured together, as by score lines indicated by dot and dash lines in the drawing. At the same end of each side wall panel, there is provided a hingedly secured top closure flap, indicated as 7, 8, 9, and 10, and at the opposite end of each panel, there is provided a bottom closure flap, indicated as 11, 12, 13 and 14.

An essential feature in accordance with the invention is the provision, as shown in the drawing, that each closure flap is provided with one edge perpendicular to the line of attachment of the flap and its panel and with an opposite edge cut or formed at an acute angle to the aforesaid line. Such provision is necessary for the accomplishment of versatility in the cross-sectional shape of the assembled carton.

In assembling the blank to form a container, flange 6 is placed over the free end of panel 2 and secured thereto by wire staples 15. The end panels may likewise be fastened together by other suitable means, as by gluing or by the use of adhesive tape. The fastened and doubled blank is shown in FIG. 2.

In order to assemble the carton so that it has a rectangular cross-section, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 5, the blank of FIG. 2 is opened so that the adjacent side walls are substantially perpendicular to each other. The opposed bottom flaps 12 and 14 and then closure flaps 11 and 13 are folded inwardly to form the carton bottom and flaps 8 and 10 and then closure flaps 7 and 9 are folded inwardly to form the carton top. It is to be noted that the rectangular edge of each flap is in contact with or parallel to the adjacent side wall of the carton.

The blank of FIG. 2 is assembled similarly to form a carton having a parallelogram-shape cross-section, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 6 with the exception that in this case, the rectangular edge of each flap is not in contact with or parallel to the adjacent side wall of the carton, but rather is disposed at a small acute angle there-to. The angular edge of each flap may likewise be disposed at a small acute angle to the adjacent side wall, but, for greatest rigidity of the package, is preferably disposed in contact with or parallel to the adjacent side wall. In this preferred arrangement, side walls of the carton are given support by an edge of each of the inside flaps.

The angle between one edge of each flap and the line of attachment of the flap to its side wall substantially coincides with the acute angle of the parallelogramshaped sheets to be packaged. A typical angle is 79 and generally the angle will be within the range of about 65 to It is further to be noted that the location of the angular and perpendicular edges of each flap must be such that when the blank is set up in carton form, with the flaps arranged in opposing co-planar pairs, the like flap edges are diagonally opposite each other. This result is attained by the provision of a blank as shown in FIG. 1, wherein each flap has a rectangular edge and an angular edge and the like edges of adjoining pairs of flaps are adjacent one another at the top end or bottom end of the side wall panels, and opposite one another in the top and bottom pairs of flaps. That is, each flap in the blank is the mirror image of the next flap and of the opposite flap.

Such features differentiate clearly from earlier proposals such as US. Patents 2,114,052 and 2,665,837 which disclose containers having only a single crosssectional shape.

Generally, the width dimension of each flap may be such that opposite flaps meet when the carton is assembled in the angular cross-sectional form. When the side Walls of such carton are shifted so that it has a rectangular cross-section, the opposite flaps will be separated by a slight gap, which can be covered, together with the triangular space at one end of each flap, by an inserted sheet. Such gap can also be avoided by arranging to have the flaps meet when the carton is in the rectangular crosssec-tional form, in which case the flaps slghtly overlap in the other form.

A further embodiment in accordance with the invention is shown in FIGURES 7 to inclusive. This differs from the foregoing example in omitting the top flaps and thus resulting in an uncovered carton. The cross-section is rectangular in the form shown in FIG. 9 and angular in the form illustrated by FIG. 10. A corresponding cover portion may also be assembled, using a similar blank of somewhat larger dimensions.

The carton blanks may be stored flat before use in the form illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 8, being then adapted for use in either cross-sectional form, rectangular or angular, as desired. After the carton has been filled with sheets or other articles, a sturdy package results on application of conventional binding strips or tapes. If desired, a tear strip of customary design may be incorporated in the side wall panels, enabling the easy severing of the package.

While the carton blank is preferably made of corrugated fiber board, other suitable sheet material, such as plain fiber Iboard, metal, or plastic, may be employed as well as paper or fabric laminated with other sheet material. The blank is preferably formed from a single sheet, but may have separate parts secured together.

The essential feature is the provision of the described structure and arrangement to provide versatility in the form of the resulting package. Blarflis as shown are readily adapted for the assembly of cartons of varied sizes, the dimensions generally being in the range of four to twenty inches.

I claim:

1. A container including two pairs of side walls, the

4 walls of each pair being substantially parallel, and at least one closure flap extending from the same end of each of said side walls,

each said flap having an edge substantially perpendicular to an another edge disposed at an acute angle to its line of juncture with its side wall,

whereby the container cross-section is rectangular,

when said perpendicular edges are disposed alongside said side walls, and parallelogram-shaped, when said edges are otherwise disposed.

2. A container as set forth in claim 1, wherein said acute angle is substantially to 3. A container as set forth in claim 1, wherein closure flaps are disposed at both the top and bottom ends of said side walls.

4. A unitary blank for forming a container having a changeable cross-sectional shape, including two pairs of side wall panels hingedly connected in series in one direction,

and at least one closure flap extending from the same end of each said panel,

each said flap having an edge substantially perpendicular to and another edge disposed at an acute angle to its line of juncture with its panel, and each flap being substantially the mirror image of the adjacent flap.

5. A blank as set forth in claim 4, wherein said acute angle is substantially 65 to 85.

6. A blank as set forth in claim 4, where closure flaps are disposed at opposite ends of said panels, opposite flaps being substantially mirror images of each other.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/ 1919 Smith 22922 4/ 1922 Dyer 20646 

1. A CONTAINER INCLUDING TWO PAIRS OF SIDE WALLS, THE WALLS OF EACH PAIR BEING SUSBTANTIALLY PARALLEL, AND AT LEAST ONE CLOSURE FLAP EXTENDING FROM THE SAME END OF EACH OF SAID SIDE WALLS, EACH SAID FLAP HAVING AN EDGE SUBSTANTIALLY PERPENDICULAR TO AN ANOTHER EDGE DISPOSED AT AN ACUTE ANGLE TO ITS LINE OF JUNCTURE WITH ITS SIDE WALL, WHEREBY THE CONTAINER CROSS-SECTION IS RECTANGULAR, WHEN SAID PERPENDICULAR EDGES ARE DISPOSED ALONGSIDE SAID SIDE WALLS, AND PARALLELOGRAM-SHAPED, WHEN SAID EDGES ARE OTHERWISE DISPOSED. 